Banned TTP’s top commander Omar Khalid Khorasani along with two aides reportedly killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, August 08 (SABAH): A vehicle carrying senior commanders of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), including Omar Khalid Khorasani, has been targeted with a mysterious explosive device in eastern Afghanistan, according to Afghan officials and locals sources.

“A vehicle reportedly carrying TTP Mohmand chief Omar Khalid Khorasani, aka Abdul Wali Mohmand, Mufti Hassan and Hafiz Dawlat Khan, was targeted in Sharki village, near Margha, in Bermal district of Paktika province,” one Afghan official told a Pakistani private TV channel.

All on board the vehicle were killed, he said without giving more details. According to anonymous sources, the TTP leaders were traveling in the Birmal district of Paktika “for consultation” when their vehicle hit a roadside mine on August 7. No further details were provided by the sources.

Sources from the outlawed TTP have confirmed the death of Omar Khalid Khorasani and the other two commanders.

According to the sources, the three TTP commanders were stationed in Afghanistan’s Kunar province and went to Burmal “for consultations”.

Khorasani, who belonged to the Mohmand tribal district, was considered a member of the TTP top hierarchy.

Hafiz Dawlat, from the Orakzai tribal district, was considered to be an important member of the group and a close trustee of Khorasani, while Mufti Hassan hailed from the Malakand Division.

Khorasani carried a bounty of Rs10 million on his head. Dawlat and Hassan had joined the Khorasan franchise of Islamic State when it was set up, but they were later wooed back into the TTP’s folds.